II. Preliminary note on the development of the skeleton of the apteryx

[Note by W. K. P.—This is not the first, but it is the most important, of the “Notes” sent to me by my son, on the development of this, thelowest and most Reptilian of all birds known.Seven stages before hatching have been obtained, and will yield, I am satisfied, most instructive results and, added to what has already been done in the other forms of the Ratitæ, will give something like completeness to our knowledge of the morphology of these archaic types. It is not merely as low kinds of birds that the Struthious types are so important to the biologist; they are so intimately related to the more primitive forms, both of Reptiles and Mammals, that any new fact as to their structure is of great value. This short paper is accompanied by one of my own, purposely to throw light upon its meaning and bearing.]